Sportverein Lafnitz (commonly known as SV Licht-Loidl Lafnitz for sponsorship purposes) is an Austrian association football club from Lafnitz. They currently play in the Austrian 2. Liga after their promotion in 2018 and play their home games at the Sportplatz Lafnitz in Lafnitz.
History
The club, which is a part of the Styria Football Association, was founded in 1964 and played predominantly in the lower leagues within Styria.
With the takeover of the chairmanship by Bernhard Loidl, who previously supported the club with his company Licht Loidl as a sponsor, in 2009, the club achieved great sporting success. At two-year intervals, championship titles were celebrated, with which, by 2013, the rise from the sixth to the third division in Austria, the Regionalliga Mitte, was achieved.
At the same time, in 2011 and 2012, the old, dilapidated sports field was transformed into a new, smart football arena with a new clubhouse and new grandstand. Although the municipality has only 1,400 inhabitants, the capacity of the stadium holds about 2000 spectators. While an average of around 800 spectators visited the home matches in the national league, there are currently around 1000 visitors in the regional league, most of whom come from neighboring Burgenland. About 100 fans accompany the team to away games.
The players of the team generally come from the region, which makes them popular with supporters. There are currently some former players from neighboring second division TSV Hartberg at SV Lafnitz.
Two players made the leap into professional football via Lafnitz: the Croatian Domagoj Bešlić, who moved to the second division club Austria Klagenfurt in 2015 before returning to Lafnitz in January 2018, and Albert Vallci, who joined the second division club SV Horn in 2016.
Historical chart of SV Lafnitz league performance
Promotion to the 2. Liga
Christian Waldl, who is in possession of the UEFA A license, arrived in the summer of 2012 from the USV Hartberg Umgebung and he succeeded right away to lead the team to the title in the Landesliga Steiermark. In September 2015, they parted company with Waldl. Waldl's successor was former Austrian international Ferdinand Feldhofer.
In the first season under Feldhofer (2015-16) the team finished in sixth place. In 2016-17, they finished just two points behind the champions TSV Hartberg in second place. In 2017–18 Lafnitz, who were top of the league from the 13th game, guaranteed their promotion to the 2. Liga with a 3-0 victory over Wolfsberger AC at the 26 game. Just two games later, the team sealed the championship title in the Regionalliga Mitte with a 3-1 victory over local rivals FC Gleisdorf 09.
Since their promotion to the 2. Liga in the 2018-19 season, Lafnitz has steadily climbed the table each year. After Feldhofer's departure at the end of 2019, current coach Philip Semlic has led the squad to finish as high as 4th place in the 2021-22 2. Liga and took them to a 3rd round appearance in the 2021-22 Austrian Cup.
First-team squad
Current squad
As of 29 January 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
